Session quality display in a wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A wireless communication device maintains a communication contact. The wireless communication device receives media session quality data for the communication contact. The wireless communication device receives a request for a media session with the communication contact and responsively identifies estimated media session quality with the communication contact based on the media session quality data for the communication contact. The wireless communication device displays a session activation icon for the media session request that visually indicates the estimated media session quality for the media session with the communication contact. The wireless communication device receives a user selection of the session activation icon and responsively establishes the media session with the communication contact.

RELATED CASES

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/072,420 that was filed on Nov. 5, 2013 and is entitled,“SESSION QUALITY DISPLAY IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.” U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/072,420 is hereby incorporated byreference into this patent application.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Wireless signal strength varies according to how far a wirelesscommunication device is away from its access point. Including RFinterfaces such as cellular or Wi-Fi, the quality of a wireless link maybe impacted by radio noise and obstructions to line of sight. Thestrength of a wireless link's signal is measured when received by awireless communication device or a base station. The received signalstrength is correlated to the overall quality of a media session, butsignal strength is not the only factor that determines session quality.A high quality session has few transmission failures, such as lost orlate payload or retransmissions.

In various wireless communication devices such as mobile phones, signalstrength is displayed bars. A displayed signal strength indicates thestrength of the wireless link between the device and its access point.In various scenarios the signal strength of the connecting wireless linkis insufficient to indicate the quality of a media session. Thecounter-party on the other side of the call may also be connectedwirelessly, in which case the session quality may depend on conditionsof two wireless networks. Congestion on a backhaul or backbone may alsoimpact session quality.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

A wireless communication device maintains a communication contact. Thewireless communication device receives media session quality data forthe communication contact. The wireless communication device receives arequest for a media session with the communication contact andresponsively identifies estimated media session quality with thecommunication contact based on the media session quality data for thecommunication contact. The wireless communication device displays asession activation icon for the media session request that visuallyindicates the estimated media session quality for the media session withthe communication contact. The wireless communication device receives auser selection of the session activation icon and responsivelyestablishes the media session with the communication contact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system that delivers visualindications of session quality.

FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless communication system that delivers visualindications of session quality.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate incoming and outgoing calls.

FIG. 4 illustrates a wireless communication device with a session icon.

FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless communication device with a session icon.

FIG. 6 illustrates session icons.

FIG. 7 illustrates a wireless communication device with multiple sessionicons.

FIG. 8 illustrates a wireless communication device with multiple sessionicons.

FIG. 9 illustrates an internal configuration of a wireless communicationdevice that displays session icons.

FIG. 10 illustrates an internal configuration of a session qualityserver system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates wireless communication system 100 using sessionquality server system 150 to obtain and transfer communication statusdata. Session quality server system 150 identifies communication contact160 and wireless communication device 110. System 150, contact 160, anddevice 110 may use communication networks 140 to communicate with eachother using links 170, 180, and 190. Session quality server system 150uses link 170 to obtain the communication status data of communicationcontact 160. Session quality server system 150 identifies wirelesscommunication device 110 as interested in the communication status dataof a set of identifiable communication contacts that includescommunication contact 160.

Session quality server system 150 delivers over link 180 thecommunication status data of the set of identifiable communicationcontacts. Data delivered over link 180 is received and remembered bywireless communication device 110. Later wireless communication device110 receives a session request indicating that communication contact 160may participate in a media session with the user. Examples of a sessionrequest for a media session include an alert for an incoming call fromthe given contact or the appearance of a button that can call the givencontact.

In reaction to wireless communication device 110 receiving a sessionrequest indicating a communication contact, display 120 shows sessionicon 130 in a way that visually indicates the communication status for apossible media session to be conducted on link 190. When the useractivates session icon 130, perhaps by pressing it, the media session isestablished. For example the session icon may be the button that answersan incoming call. The incoming call may be a voice call to be carried onlink 190.

FIG. 2 illustrates wireless communication system 200, which is also anexample of system 100. Content requests arrive at CDN 211 over either oflink 274 or 272 depending on which long haul ISP 207 and 208 is used forthe selected IP address. Communication contact 260 connects tocommunication networks 240 thru access network 230. Since access network230 is wireless in this example, communication contact 260 has awireless communication device. Session quality server system 250 obtainscommunication status data for communication contact 260. Thiscommunication status data may include data regarding the quality andavailability of links 231 and 280, access network 230, and communicationcontact 260. For example the signal quality or received signal strengthof link 231 or 280 could be included in the communication status datathat system 250 receives on link 280. The type of access network 230 maybe Wi-Fi, cellular, or other wireless technology. The type of accessnetwork 230 may be included in the communication status data that isdelivered on link 280.

Session quality server system 250 also obtains communication status dataabout wireless communication device 210, which is delivered over links221 and 290 and wireless access network 220. Session quality serversystem 250 considers the raw communication status data regarding contact260 and device 210 and determines a visual representation thatsummarizes the communication status to indicate session quality. Thevisual representation is the communication status data that sessionquality server system eventually delivers over links 290 and 221, towireless communication device 210. Wireless communication device 210receives and remembers the last communication status data it receivesfor each communication contact. If for example the party atcommunication contact 260 attempts to originate a voice call, wirelesscommunication device 210 receives on link 221 a control page indicatingan incoming call. Wireless communication device 210 considers thereceived control page as announcing a session request. Device 210 reactsto the session request by displaying session icon 214, which may be ananswer button. Session icon 214 visually indicates the communicationstatus data that device 210 earlier received regarding contact 260.

FIG. 3A illustrates scenario 301 for an outbound call originated by user310. Session quality server system 330 identifies a set of communicationcontacts and obtains communication status data about communicationcontact 350. The identification of a set of contacts may be originallysupplied to system 330 by device 320 during (360), or the identificationof a contact set may originate from elsewhere. Since system 330 mayobtain (361) communication status data before or after the originalidentification of the contact set, 360 and 361 may be simultaneous asshown in FIG. 3A, or assume any relative ordering between them. System330 produces communication status data that includes visual detailssummarizing the raw data (361). The communication status data with thevisual details is sent (362) to device 320, and device 320 remembersthis data. At this time device 320 likely is not showing a session icon,although device 320 has the communication status data needed to visuallypresent the session icon.

User 310 prepares (361) to call contact 350, perhaps by viewing in acontacts manager the contacts information of the party reachable atcontact 350. Device 320 reacts to this by displaying (364) the sessionicon, which in this example is a button to call contact 350.Implementations may differ on how to visualize the communication statusdata in the session icon. For example the communication status data mayinclude the color gray to indicate poor session quality. As such graywould appear on the session icon in such a way as to be meaningful touser 310. Even though the call quality is poor, user 310 attempts (365)to originate the call by pressing the session icon. The media sessionfor the voice call is established (366) when the party reached atcontact 350 accepts the call.

FIG. 3B illustrates scenario 301 with another call between user 310 andcontact 350. Device 320 receives communication status data as before(360-62). In scenario 301 the session request originates (367) fromcontact 350, hence this announces an incoming call for user 310 toaccept. In this example the session icon is an answer button foraccepting the incoming call and colored (368) according to communicationstatus data about contact 350. The incoming call is accepted when user310 presses (369) the answer button. The media session is established(370) when the call is accepted.

FIG. 4 illustrates wireless communication device 400 that colors asession icon according to session quality. In this example an incomingcall is being announced in display 410, which may be a touch screen.Device 400 previously received communication status data from a sessionquality server system. Announcing the incoming call includes displayingsession icon, which is answer button 422 in this example. Answer button422 is colored according to the color data included in the communicationstatus data about contact 350. According to the color legend of FIG. 4,green is the color specified by the communication status data andpresented in answer button 422. Green may indicate a high quality mediasession. If the quality of the media session were moderate instead ofhigh, the communication status data would specify yellow instead ofgreen, and answer button 421 would be colored yellow. A low qualitymedia session would be indicated by coloring answer button 423 red.

Communication status data can be visualized without color. For exampleFIG. 5 illustrates wireless communication device 500 that sizes asession icon according to session quality. Screen 510 announces anincoming call, including displaying answer button 520 as a session icon.Answer button 520 is big because the call quality is high, and so thecommunication status data includes size data that specifies a big size.If the call quality is moderate instead of high, the communicationstatus data specifies medium size, and answer button 521 is mediumsized. If the call quality is low, then answer button 522 is small.

FIG. 6 shows other exemplary ways of visualizing communication statusdata in a session icon without relying on color. Session icons 600 and601 show a lightly shaded portion that fills vertically according to afill level given in the communication status data. Session icon 602shows the fill level as a lightly shaded border that expands inward asthe fill level rises to indicate better session quality. Session icon603 shows the fill level in discrete geometric increments akin to signalbars, but arranged radially. As shown in session icons 610 and 611 apictorial image within the session icon may be resized according to thefill level given in the communication data. Session icon 610 indicateslow quality, and session icon 611 indicates high quality.

The visual indications included in the communication status data neednot be numeric as fill level is. The communication status data mayinclude flags such as a high definition (HD) voice indicator. The HDflag shown in session icon 630 might for example be included when bothcommunication devices that would participate in a media session supportHD voice and the involved networks can carry HD voice. The two partiesof a media session may be connected to different access networks. Thetype of access network of the counter party contact may be included inthe communication status data, such that a party may be shown a sessionicon that visually indicates the access network type of the counterparty contact. A visual indication of access network type may beincluded in communication status data as a pictorial icon. For examplesession icon 620 shows that a communication contact is connected to aWi-Fi access network. Session icon 621 shows that a communicationcontact is connected to a cellular network. Session icon 622 shows thata communication contact is connected by a land line.

FIG. 7 illustrates multiple session icons 730-32 appearing on touchscreen display 710 in exemplary wireless communication device 700. Asshown device 700 runs a contacts manager application. The user iscurrently viewing contact information 720 of party Chris Cross. What isnot shown is how the user navigated to contact information 720. Forexample if the user began by launching the contacts manager application,then the user might initially be shown a list of parties. When the userselects Chris Cross from the list of parties, device 700 reacts byshowing contact information 720 and further handling the user'sselection as one or more session requests. Since contact information 720includes three communication contacts, the user's navigation to contactinformation 720 is recognized by device 700 as three session requests,one session request for each communication contact. Reacting to threesession requests causes this example to show three session icons 730-32,one for each communication contact of Chris Cross.

Each of session icons 730-32 regards a separate communication contactand so visually indicates separate communication status data. If thesession quality is encoded as shading data in the communication statusdata, then the dark shading of session icon 732 may suggest thatactivating session icon 732 would originate a higher quality call thanwould the activation of session icon 730 or 731. The communicationstatus data of session icons 730-31 visually indicate a lower callquality, perhaps because device 700 can only reach the communicationcontacts of these session icons by connecting to a cellular accessnetwork of lower call quality. Whereas session icon 732 might be darkerbecause device 700 can reach the communication contact of session icon732 by connecting to a Wi-Fi access network of higher call quality.Those are examples of the access network of device 700 affecting thecommunication status data that is processed by the session qualityserver system.

However a communication contact may also connect to an access networkthat affects communication status data. The communication status datagiven to wireless communication device 700 is an integration ofcommunication status data of device 700 and the communication statusdata of the communication contact of session icon 732. As such it ispossible that session icon 730 or 731 is lightly shaded because ofcommunication status data of the corresponding communication contact.

FIG. 8 illustrates wireless communication device 800, which may be asmart phone with touch screen 810 or other device that can displayinteractive icons and has a wireless transceiver. The user is viewingcall history 820. Each call in the call history appears as a shaded orunshaded horizontal stripe, which are session icons 830-835 thatoriginate a call when activated. Session icons 832 and 834 may be shadedbecause the communication status data given to wireless communicationdevice 800 included shading to indicate a low quality media session.Perhaps the media quality is low because only for session icons 832 and834 does device 800 connect to a Wi-Fi network with a weak signal.

FIG. 9 illustrates wireless communication device 900. Wirelesscommunication device 900 may have the same configuration of otherwireless communication devices 110, 210, 320, 400, 500, 700, or 800,although these other devices could use alternative configurations.Wireless communication device 900 comprises communication interfaces910, user interface 920, and processing system 940. Processing system940 is linked to communication interfaces 910 and user interface 920.Processing system 940 includes processing circuitry 950 which isconnected to storage system 960 that stores operating software 970.Wireless communication device 900 may include other well-knowncomponents such as a battery and enclosure that are not shown forclarity. Wireless communication device 900 may be a telephone, computer,mobile Internet appliance, game console, or some other wirelesscommunication apparatus—including combinations thereof.

Communication interfaces 910 comprises RF communication circuitry and anantenna. The RF communication circuitry typically includes an amplifier,filter, RF modulator, and signal processing circuitry. Communicationinterfaces 910 may also include a memory device, software, processingcircuitry, or some other communication device. Communication interfaces910 use various protocols, such as CDMA, EVDO, WIMAX, GSM, LTE, Wi-Fi,HSPA, Bluetooth, 1×RTT or some other wireless communication format.

User interface 920 comprises components that interact with a user toreceive user inputs and to present media and/or information. Userinterface 920 includes display 930 and may also include a speaker,microphone, buttons, lights, touch screen, touch pad, scroll wheel,communication port, or some other user input/output apparatus—includingcombinations thereof.

Processing circuitry 950 comprises microprocessor and other circuitrythat retrieves and executes operating software 970 from storage system960. Storage system 960 comprises a non-transitory storage medium, suchas a disk drive, flash drive, data storage circuitry, or some othermemory apparatus. Processing circuitry 950 is typically mounted on acircuit board that may also hold storage system 960 and portions ofcommunication interfaces 910 and user interface 920. Operating software970 comprises computer programs, firmware, or some other form ofmachine-readable processing instructions. Operating software 970 mayinclude an operating system, applications, drivers, and session statuslogic tailored according to desired features. Operating software 970 mayalso include utilities or some other type of software. When executed byprocessing circuitry 950, operating software 970 directs processingsystem 940 to operate wireless communication device 900 as describedherein.

The session status logic of wireless communication device 900 maycomprise an aggregation of software modules such as the following.Communication module 982 may drive communication interfaces 910 to sendand receive communication status data. Display module 986 may rendersession icons for delivery to display 930 and handle user interactions.Session status module 984 may send and receive communication datathrough communication interfaces 910. Session status module 984 may alsoremember the most recently received communication status data for eachcommunication contact known to wireless communication device 900.Implementations of the session status logic of wireless communicationdevice 900 have flexibility as to how many software modules are presentand how responsibilities are distributed amongst the modules.

The above description and associated figures teach the best mode of theinvention. The following claims specify the scope of the invention. Notethat some aspects of the best mode may not fall within the scope of theinvention as specified by the claims. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the features described above can be combined in variousways to form multiple variations of the invention. As a result, theinvention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above,but only by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a wireless communicationdevice that maintains a communication contact, the method comprising:the wireless communication device receiving media session quality datafor the communication contact; the wireless communication devicereceiving a request for a media session with the communication contact;in response to receiving the request, the wireless communication deviceidentifying estimated media session quality with the communicationcontact based on the media session quality data for the communicationcontact; the wireless communication device displaying a sessionactivation icon for the media session request that visually indicatesthe estimated media session quality for the media session with thecommunication contact; and the wireless communication device receiving auser selection of the session activation icon and responsivelyestablishing the media session with the communication contact.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein receiving the request for the media sessionwith the communication contact comprises receiving the request from auser of the wireless communication device.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein receiving the request for the media session with thecommunication contact comprises receiving the request from thecommunication contact.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying thesession activation icon for the media session request that visuallyindicates the estimated media session quality comprises displaying thesession activation icon with an icon color that indicates the estimatedmedia session quality.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying thesession activation icon for the media session request that visuallyindicates the estimated media session quality comprises displaying thesession activation icon with a red icon color that indicates a lowestimated media session quality.
 6. The method of claim 1 whereindisplaying the session activation icon for the media session requestthat visually indicates the estimated media session quality comprisesdisplaying the session activation icon with a yellow icon color thatindicates a moderate estimated media session quality.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 wherein displaying the session activation icon for the mediasession request that visually indicates the estimated media sessionquality comprises displaying the session activation icon with a greenicon color that indicates a high estimated media session quality.
 8. Themethod of claim 1 wherein displaying the session activation icon for themedia session request that visually indicates the estimated mediasession quality comprises displaying the session activation icon with anicon fill-level that indicates the estimated media session quality. 9.The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the session activation icon forthe media session request that visually indicates the estimated mediasession quality comprises displaying the session activation icon with anicon size that indicates the estimated media session quality.
 10. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the media session comprises a voice call or avideo call.
 11. A wireless communication device that maintains acommunication contact comprising: a wireless communication interfaceconfigured to receive media session quality data for a communicationcontact; a processing system configured to receive a request for a mediasession with the communication contact and in response the request,identify estimated media session quality with the communication contactbased on the media session quality data for the communication contact; auser interface configured to display a session activation icon for themedia session request that visually indicates the estimated mediasession quality for the media session with the communication contact;the user interface configured to receive a user selection of the sessionactivation icon; the processing system configured to establish the mediasession with the communication contact over the wireless communicationinterface responsive to the user selection of the session activationicon; and the wireless communication interface configured to exchangemedia data for the media session with the communication contact.
 12. Thewireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the user interface isconfigured to receive the request for the media session with thecommunication contact from a user of the wireless communication device.13. The wireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the wirelesscommunication interface is configured to receive the request for themedia session with the communication contact from a communicationnetwork.
 14. The wireless communication device of claim 11 wherein theuser interface is configured to display the session activation icon withan icon color that indicates the estimated media session quality. 15.The wireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the user interfaceis configured to display the session activation icon with a red iconcolor that indicates a low estimated media session quality.
 16. Thewireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the user interface isconfigured to display the session activation icon with a yellow iconcolor that indicates a moderate estimated media session quality.
 17. Thewireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the user interface isconfigured to display the session activation icon with a green iconcolor that indicates a high estimated media session quality.
 18. Thewireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the user interface isconfigured to display the session activation icon with an iconfill-level that indicates the estimated media session quality.
 19. Thewireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the user interface isconfigured to display the session activation icon with an icon size thatindicates the estimated media session quality.
 20. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 11 wherein the media session comprises avoice call or a video call.